Pain is Beauty
by AnUnholyAmountOfPasta
Summary: Faced with the prospect of being married off to Lucius Malfoy, Andromeda makes a different decision. It's really not going to go well.


Andromeda winced as the strings of her corset were pulled sharply, so tight that the wretched thing crushed her ribs and made her gasp for breath. She knew from experience that it would leave marks, deep red grooves and violet bruises that marred her otherwise flawless pale skin.

"Ease up, Bella," she gasped.

Bellatrix smirked at her in the mirror. "Pain is beauty, dear sister. And you need to look particularly beautiful tonight, lest we send poor Lucius running for the hills. He is awfully delicate."

Andromeda pulled a face. "He's just a pretty boy. Why Mother and Father picked him for me and not Cissy, I'll never know."

"Their babies would have far better hair," Bellatrix commented, giving her sister's curly plait a hard tug as she stepped back.

"Ow!" Andromeda turned and glared at her. "Make yourself useful and fix it if it's so terrible!"

"If we haven't been able to fix it in eighteen years I really don't know what you're expecting me to do tonight," Bella replied, but she pushed her younger sister back to the mirror and started pulling out her hair pins, none too gently.

Wincing with each tug, Andromeda glanced at Bella's reflection. "Bella… tell me honestly. What do you think of him? Whenever I try and picture myself as Mrs. Malfoy I just… I can't see it. Did you feel like that when they announced your engagement to Rodolphus?"

Bellatrix briefly made eye contact with her in the mirror, then went back to attacking her errant curls. "No," she said, shortly.

Andromeda sighed. "I just feel that maybe it isn't a good match. I mean- Ouch! Bella!"

One of the pins had been ripped so forcefully from her braid that it took a chunk of her scalp with it. "I said fix it, not remove it!"

"Oh do shut up, Andy," Bella replied. "Honestly, sometimes you could rival Cissy for how much you whine. The Malfoys are a good family, I don't understand what you're so worried about."

"Marrying someone I don't love, or even like?" Andromeda pointed out.

Bella snickered as she started pulling a hairbrush through her thick mane. "It's almost as if you weren't raised in this family. Love has nothing to do with it. Your duty to the House of Black is to marry well and produce pure heirs to carry on the line. History isn't going to take into account whether or not you cuddle afterwards. Now, shut up. I need to concentrate if you want to be looking at least half respectable in time for the party."

Hours later, well past the grandfather clock striking midnight and after the last of the guests had trailed home, Andromeda closed her bedroom door and leaned heavily against it with a sigh. All night she had stood beside her parents and new fiancé as well-wishers congratulated them and subjected them to endless amounts of small talk.

She'd barely said more than a few sentences to Lucius the whole night. He of course had been the perfect pureblood boy, standing proud and tall, perfectly dressed and manicured to perfection. He looked positively ridiculous in Andromeda's eyes, but her parents adored him and he was destined for a high place at the Ministry.

A sharp _tap!_ at the window made her jump and she straightened up, her heart starting to beat faster in her chest. Another tap sent her racing to the window, the first real smile of the night spreading across her face as she wrestled with the catch. Finally pulling it open, she leaned on the sill and smiled down at the much plainer boy that grinned back up at her from the garden below.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you," she called down in a hushed voice.

Ted crossed his arms. "I'm pleased to hear it. Now, are you going to let me in or what?"

Andromeda closed the window and crept out of her room and down the grand staircase. Her parents and Narcissa had gone to bed and their rooms were on the other side of the mansion, but she didn't even want to risk running into any of the house elves that were currently scurrying around clearing up the mess that their lords had left behind. She ducked to the back entrance and unlocked the heavy door, swearing under her breath as it creaked open. Ted crept in, looking around cautiously.

"You could have warned me there would be so many people here tonight," he whispered, "I've been hiding out there for the past two hours."

"You could have warned me that you were planning on turning up!" she retorted, giving him a quick kiss. "Come on."

She took his hand and led him back upstairs to her bedroom, where she locked the door and charmed it to avoid any noise leaking across the hall. She turned and smiled; Ted plopped down onto her bed and pulled off his boots.

"I hope you haven't left a muddy trail," she commented, though she watched appreciatively as he started pulling off his shirt. Ever since they'd finished their time at Hogwarts, it was increasingly difficult to meet. Ted risked everything whenever he snuck in; she had little doubt her father would be forgiving if they were caught.

"Why don't you stop worrying and join me?" Ted said, patting the bed suggestively. "I promise I can cheer you up."

"You always do," she said softly, creeping over towards the bed.

He drew her in for a long, passionate kiss and she eventually pulled away, breathless. "I need you to help me forget who I am, just for one more night, Ted. Will you do that for me?"

Ted ran his hands up her back, finding the fastening to her robes and undoing them. "I always do…"

No more words needed to be exchanged as the young lovers helped each other undress and moved onto the bed. Ted moved up over her and settled between her legs, leaving a trail of hot kisses across her breasts and up her neck. Andromeda dug her nails into his shoulders and he took the hint, trailing the kisses back down, a soothing balm over her sore ribs and then over her stomach, until he disappeared under the duvet and eventually his tongue found her most sensitive spot.

Her back arched and she clutched at the expensive bedsheets as he kept kissing and licking, building the fire up inside her until it was almost too much to bear. She jerked upwards as one rough finger slid inside her. Blindly, she grabbed a pillow from under her head and pressed it over her face as she moaned loudly. How could she give up this in exchange for Lucius and his cold, perfect façade?

Another finger joined the first one and she let go of the pillow and wrapped her hands in his tousled hair instead, urging him on, as he moved faster and harder. She could feel her release building up, the unbearable tension that left her toes curling, her knees shaking, until eventually she couldn't take anymore and called out his name as she came.

Ted reappeared from under the covers and moved up to kiss her. The taste of herself on his lips was strange but not unpleasant and she let out a contented sigh as she felt his hard member pressing against her.

"I can't tell you how badly I needed this," she murmured, arching her back with another soft moan as he slowly entered her. "I love you…"

The dawn broke through her sleep and she stirred, waking Ted up as well.

"Shit, I fell asleep," he said thickly, rubbing his eyes. He sat up and started searching for his clothes. After he was dressed, he sat back down on the bed and leaned down to kiss her. "Last night was… incredible. I wish I didn't have to rush off but…" he trailed off and shrugged awkwardly.

Andromeda watched him sombrely then sat up. "Well you don't have to, because I'm coming with you."

Shocked, he watched as she got up and starting pulling clothes out of her wardrobe. "Are you sure? 'Dromeda, take a minute and calm down. This is a huge decision and it-"

She spun on her heel and fixed him with that infamously chilling Black glare. "Don't you want me to?"

"Of course I do! But you know how badly it's going to go down with your parents. If they find out you've broken off your engagement to run away with a mudblood-"

"Don't!" she snapped, throwing her bag down onto the floor. "Don't call yourself that. It's bad enough that I have to hear them say it, I don't want to hear it from you as well."

Ted cupped her face gently and stroked her cheek. "Just take a minute and think about what you're doing. We can't go back from this."

"And I don't want to! Ted, this is the first thing in … in years that I've actually wanted! The first thing that I've decided for myself and isn't for their benefit. Do you really think I want to marry Malfoy?"

Ted flinched and his hand dropped away from her face.

Andromeda softened and took his hand. "Please, Teddy, I don't have much time. Can I come with you?"

A knock on the door instantly cranked the tension in the room up several notches and Andromeda pushed Ted towards the bed as she moved to answer it. Making sure he was safely out of sight underneath, she cracked the door open and poked her head around.

Narcissa looked suspiciously back at her. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody, you silly girl, it's five a.m. And what are you doing up so early anyway? Go back to bed," Andromeda replied hurriedly, closing the door in her sister's face.

Ted crawled back out and dusted himself off.

"My silencing charm must have worn off during the night," Andromeda whispered, aware that Narcissa was probably still lurking outside. "You'd better go. I can't risk it, she'll hear and the cavalry will be summoned before we get even halfway down the garden."

He pulled her in for a last kiss. "Pack your things – not too much, mind – and be ready at midnight tonight. I'll come back for you."

She threw her arms around him, beaming. "Don't come up to the house; I'll meet you outside the gates." She breathed in his scent, committing it to memory, before forcing herself to pull away. It was hard to let go, but soon they'd be together.

Just one more day.


End file.
